- Walter of Châtillon
Walter of Châtillon (
Latin Gualterus de Castellione) was a 12th-century French writer and theologian who wrote in the Latin language. He studied underStephen of Beauvais and at theUniversity of Paris . It was probably during his student years that he wrote a number of Latinpoem s in theGoliard ic manner that found their way into the "Carmina Burana " collection. During his lifetime, however, he was more esteemed for a long Latin epic on the life ofAlexander the Great , the "Alexandreis , sive Gesta Alexandri Magni", ahexameter epic, full ofanachronism s; he depicts theCrucifixion ofJesus as having already taken place during the days of Alexander the Great. The "Alexandreis" was popular and influential in Walter's own times.Matthew of Vendôme andAlan of Lille borrowed from it andHenry of Settimello imitated it, but it is now seldom read. One line, referring toVirgil 'sAeneis , is sometimes quoted::"Incidit in Scyllam qui vult vitare Charybdim" ("Wanting to avoid
Charybdis , he runs intoScylla ").Many poems in his style, or borrowing his themes, have been attributed to Walter on insufficient evidence. For example, he was not the author of the satirical "
Apocalypse of Golias " once attributed to him. In addition to his poems, Walter wrote a dialogue attackingJudaism and a treatise on theTrinity , and he was possibly the author of "Moralium dogma philosophorum ". He died ofbubonic plague early in the 13th century.External links
* [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15543c.htm "Catholic Encyclopedia: Walter of Chatillon"]
* [http://www.association-gauthier.org/anglais/1600a/gautier-chatillon1135a.html Gautier de Châtillon at Association de généalogie des familles Gauthier]
*Online works in Latin
** [http://www.fh-augsburg.de/~harsch/Chronologia/Lspost12/Gualterus/gua_al00.html "Alexandreis"] (Bibliotheca Augustana)
** [http://www.bu.edu/english/levine/walt821.htm Satirical poems of Walter of Châtillon]
** [http://books.google.com/books?id=y-UHL98e8dkC&pg=RA4-PT2 "Contra Judaeos"] , [http://books.google.com/books?id=y-UHL98e8dkC&pg=RA4-PT77 "De Trinitate"] ("Patrologia Latina " via Google Books)Bibliography
*F. J. E. Raby, "A History of Secular Latin Poetry in the Middle Ages" (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1934. ISBN 0198143257) vol. 2 pp. 72-80, 190-204.
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